Month: April 2018

 

Why You Should Get Strong

Yesterday after my motivational strongman performance I did a questions and answers segment.  Generally speaking, people always have questions and I’m more than happy to answer them, though I don’t reveal my personal numbers in the gym (I like some things to remain a mystery).

One question I got yesterday is;

“What do you train people to do?”

“Uhm, I train people to do what they want to do.”

I know it’s kind of a weird way to answer a question but upon some digging to understand the question better, they asked if I helped people learn to get stronger ie general strength or if I also helped people lose weight.

The answer is I train people to accomplish the goal, whatever that goal may happen to be, but sometimes the goal changes.

As an example, years ago before Jill became my substitute teacher of strength and awesomeness, she had hired me to help her lose weight for her wedding. Prior to me, she didn’t know that she could get stronger without putting on muscle and nowhere in her stated goals did she ever mention anything about strength. 

However, strength was part of the strategy to help her lose weight, which yes she lost the weight but got much stronger in the process and when a video featurette was being done about me, I asked her to say a few words on camera.

With tears starting to well up in her eyes on camera, she talked about how getting stronger made her feel, without once mentioning weight loss.

I found with her, and with many others that though they initially want one thing, they become excited by another thing altogether.  I understand this myself.

Years ago, I embarked on a program to get really ripped.  I did and kettlebell training was part of the process.  Being ripped wasn’t fulfilling to me, but when I got stronger that was exciting and it opened doors to a world that I would never have thought possible. 

yes this is me

And many people come to me because they feel something is missing in their life, and they think that getting in shape will fill in that gap. 

Many times it does.I digress though. 

One of the reasons they had asked me that particular question is because many fitness programs have a cookie cutter approach and lump you into their goal for you.

I don’t do this.  I dig deep to figure out what your goal is, even if you don’t really know. And when I know the destination I can provide the path to get there.  Sometimes your goal will stop being important to you and your goal changes.  That’s ok too.

I do have a system in place to make everybody stronger though.  I make people stronger to accomplish whatever it is they want to accomplish because strength is the foundational quality that makes everything else easier.

And even if you don’t even really have a reason, it’s good to get strong because as Mark Rippetoe famously said;

“Strong people are harder to kill and more useful in general.”

Would you like my help getting strong?  I have a one-week trial membership of my personal training services available.


Eric Moss is a world record holding professional strongman, author, speaker and personal trainer. In the tradition of the strongmen during the turn of the century, he performs feats of strength such as bending steel and breaking chains as part of a show and speaks on goal achievement for corporations, nonprofits, government as well as for schools and universities. His exclusive personal training studio is in Boonton Township New Jersey with Lewandowski Chiropractic and is close to Mountain Lakes, Denville, and Parsippany New Jersey.

You spend your life in your body, are you taking care of it?

Last week I ran out of printer ink and went to go pick up some more.  The guy who runs the print shop oftentimes regals me with tales of his back problems.  As of now, he’s pain-free from doing yoga and is now preaching about the importance of your health.

You’re preaching to the choir, my friend.

But it was his quip that made me want to write this article.  He had said that people will take better care of their car than their body.

In a networking group, I used to be a part of they bring in a speaker who is known to wash his truck every day…rain or shine, even in subzero temperatures.  Me being a personal trainer and I’m not trying to make judgments here, but you can’t help but notice the spare tire he tries to hide under his shirt.

Now it’s possible he doesn’t know what to do, in which case that’s why people like me exist to guide them and teach them, but I’d wager that he doesn’t bother to try.  And that’s a shame.

If you spend a lot of time in the car, you likely have a 1 or 2 hour each way to work.  On the top end that’s about 4 hours a day… that’s a lot.

 

But you spend 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year every year for the rest of your life in your body. So you might as well have the best one you can have.  That’s one that is strong, lean and healthy.

And I can tell you that when you are like this, life is better, plain and simple.  You’ll have the strength to be capable of whatever it is you want to do.  You won’t be self-conscious or embarrassed to dress for when the weather gets warmer (if this weather EVER acts normal.)

What this does for your self-confidence is transformative.  In fact, the advice that’s usually given to people recently divorced is to get in shape because it makes you feel better about yourself.

If you are unsure how to do this, here are a few tips.

via GIPHY

-switch out the unhealthy food you are eating to healthy food choices, and/or fast.

-pick exercises that train multiple qualities (mobility, stability, strength and cardiovascular conditioning) and practice them. I find the basics of kettlebell training to be the best at this.

-dedicate 2 – 3 times a week to doing this, consistently and in time you’ll have that body.  And maintaining it is easier than building it.

If you need help with putting it all together with guidance, a supportive environment, and accountability, perhaps now is the time to hire a personal trainer to help you with this.

I have a trial membership available so you can see if I’m right for you. If nothing else, I can teach you stuff you can do on your own.


Eric Moss is a world record holding professional strongman, author, speaker and personal trainer. In the tradition of the strongmen during the turn of the century, he performs feats of strength such as bending steel and breaking chains as part of a show and speaks on goal achievement for corporations, nonprofits, government as well as for schools and universities. His exclusive personal training studio is in Boonton Township New Jersey with Lewandowski Chiropractic and is close to Mountain Lakes, Denville, and Parsippany New Jersey.